Robert Sobukwe

Robert Sobukwe (5 December 1924-27 February 1978) was President of the Pan Africanist Congress from 6 April 1959 to 1963, preceding Potlako Leballo.

Biography
Robert Sobukwe was born in Graaff-Reinet, South Africa in 1924, and he went to the University of Fort Hare, where he joined the African National Congress Youth League, whose secretary he became in 1949 on a radical platform. He became a university lecturer, and from 1957 edited The Africanist newspaper. On 6 April 1959 he became the first leader of the newly established Pan Africanist Congress, believing that blacks should liberate themselves to establish a democratic society. The charismatic leader proceeded to organize demonstrations which led to the Sharpeville massacre, whereupon the PAC was banned and he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment with hard labor. Just before his release was due in 1963, the governement passed a law allowing his further detention (without trial) for incitement to violence. He used his time in prison to gain an external BSc degree in economics from the University of London. Released in 1969, his movements were restricted to Kimberley, where he qualified as a lawyer in 1975. He died of cancer.